Written Answers Thursday 7 September 2006

Scottish Executive

Airports

Rosie Kane (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has considered using the powers granted to it under The Scotland Act 1998 (Transfer of Functions to the Scottish Ministers etc.) Order 1999 (SI 1999/1750) to invoke section 78(3) of the Civil Aviation Act 1982, empowering it to publish a notice "to prohibit specified aircraft from taking off or landing at an aerodrome, to specify the maximum number of occasions on which the specified aircraft may take off or land and to determine the persons who are to be entitled to make the appropriate arrangements for aircraft of which they are operators", to enable it to prevent flights landing in Scotland which are carrying munitions from the United States of America to Israel and, if so, what meetings this was considered at and what conclusions were reached.

Tavish Scott: The purpose of Section 78(3) of the Civil Aviation Act 1982 is to limit or mitigate noise and vibration from aircraft. This power cannot be used to prohibit aircraft from landing at Scottish airports for reasons other than noise or vibration.

Airports

Rosie Kane (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has sought the advice of the Lord Advocate and Solicitor General for Scotland to establish whether the powers granted under The Scotland Act 1998 (Transfer of Functions to the Scottish Ministers etc.) Order 1999 (SI 1999/1750) could be invoked to enable it to prevent flights landing in Scotland which are carrying munitions from the United States of America to Israel and, if so, what advice was proffered.

Tavish Scott: By longstanding convention, the Scottish Executive does not disclose whether Law Officers’ advice has, or has not, been sought on a particular matter.

Airports

Rosie Kane (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has sought the advice of civil servants to establish whether the powers granted under The Scotland Act 1998 (Transfer of Functions to the Scottish Ministers etc.) Order 1999 (SI 1999/1750) could be invoked to enable it to prevent flights landing in Scotland which are carrying munitions from the United States of America to Israel and, if so, what advice was proffered.

Tavish Scott: The purpose of the relevant power under section 78(3) of the Civil Aviation Act 1982 is to limit or mitigate noise and vibration from aircraft. This power cannot be used to prohibit aircraft from landing at Scottish airports for reasons other than noise or vibration.

Antisocial Behaviour

Mr John Swinney (North Tayside) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it is making in tackling antisocial behaviour.

Hugh Henry: Tackling antisocial behaviour is a complex problem that will not be dealt with over-night. Our antisocial behaviour newsletter highlights how the powers are increasingly being used across Scotland.

Antisocial Behaviour

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to encourage local authorities and other agencies to make better use of the legislation on antisocial behaviour.

Hugh Henry: The antisocial behaviour newsletter, distributed to councils and agencies across Scotland, contains examples of how the new powers are being used to help communities. We hope that this will encourage councils and local agencies to learn from good practice elsewhere. In addition we have held a number of public events across Scotland to provide information to the public on what assistance is available to deal with antisocial behaviour.

Children and Young People

Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive where children are placed if their residency has been terminated from a (a) secure unit and (b) residential home as a result of (i) disruptive behaviour and (ii) other reasons.

Cathy Jamieson: This information is not held centrally. However, there are a variety of reasons why a young person’s residential placement may be terminated. These decisions are made in the best interests of the young person by their local authority as part of their individual care planning.

Dentistry

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS dental patients have been newly registered in NHS Tayside in the last year, broken down by month.

Lewis Macdonald: The information requested is provided in the following table.

  Number of New NHS Patient Registrations. in NHS Tayside; April 2005 to March 2006

  

 Month
 No. of Patients


 April 2005
 2,295


 May 2005
 2,262


 June 2005
 2,281


 July 2005
 1,743


 August 2005
 2,589


 September 2005
 2,833


 October 2005
 2,172


 November 2005
 2,395


 December 2005
 1,802


 January 2006
 2,253


 February 2006 
 2,092


 March 2006
 2,283


 Total
 27,000



  Source: MIDAS (Management and Dental Accounting System).

  Data extracted 2 September 2006.

  Note: A new patient registration is a patient who was not registered with a dentist under NHS arrangements in NHS Tayside in the 12 months preceding each of months April 2005 to March 2006.

E.coli

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance is available to public authorities on dealing with actual or suspected outbreaks of E. coli O157.

Lewis Macdonald: We published guidance on Managing Incidents Presenting Actual or Potential Risks to the Public Health in 2003. This guidance indicates how NHS boards and other organisations should manage incidents such as outbreaks of E. coli O157.

Economy

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment its Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department has made of the economic impact on Scotland of the Edinburgh festivals.

Allan Wilson: The Scottish Executive, Enterprise Transport and Lifelong Learning Department has not directly undertaken an assessment of the economic impact of the Edinburgh festivals on Scotland. An economic impact assessment into Edinburgh’s year round festivals was carried out by independent economic consultants in 2004-05, commissioned by the City of Edinburgh Council, Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian, EventScotland and VisitScotland.

  The stage 1 study estimated that the Edinburgh Summer Festivals in 2004 attracted £134.7 million in "new" output to Scotland;

  The stage 2 study concluded that the year round festivals programme in 2004-05 generated £184 million of "new" output in Scotland (inclusive of summer festivals). Therefore, the additional output generated by the autumn, winter and spring festivals was £49.3 million.

Europe

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the expiry of the United Kingdom’s derogation from Council Directive 2003/96/EC of 27 October 2003, which allows private boat owners to purchase red diesel at reduced duty levels; whether it has considered the impact which the expiry of the derogation would have on Scotland’s boating industry and on the economic benefits generated by the industry and maritime tourism for Scotland’s coastal areas and island communities, and whether it will make representations to the UK Government to maintain the derogation.

Tavish Scott: The Scottish Executive are in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including taxation of fuel.

Freedom of Information

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-27199 by Ms Margaret Curran on 26 July 2006, when it will announce the outcome of its review of Schedule 1 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

Ms Margaret Curran: The on-going, limited review of the early operation of freedom of information in Scotland is providing the opportunity to consider how the act is working in practice. The outcome of the review will be announced in due course.

Health

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Dumfries and Galloway Council’s budget for aids and adaptations has been cut from £1.2 million in 2005-06 to £250,000 in the current financial year.

Lewis Macdonald: Local authority spending on aids and adaptations is provided under a number of budget lines, most of which are not ring-fenced and are therefore a matter for the council to decide.

  The Executive provided an additional £5 million in capital grant for aids and adaptations to local authorities in 2005-06, of which £163,000 went to Dumfries and Galloway.

Higher Education

Mike Pringle (Edinburgh South) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how it intends to maintain the international competitiveness of Scottish universities.

Nicol Stephen: The Executive has clearly demonstrated its commitment to our higher education institutions by increasing funding to over £1 billion per year by 2008. This record level of funding represents a real terms increase of 23% since 2004-05. The Executive has achieved this major increase in funding while firmly maintaining our policy of free tuition for Scottish students.

Housing

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average costs of materials for house building have been in each year since 1996.

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average costs of serviced house sites have been in each year since 1996.

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average costs of materials for house building have been in each year since 1996, broken down by local authority area.

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average costs of serviced house sites have been in each year since 1996, broken down by local authority area.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not held centrally.

Justice

Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many children aged (a) 8, (b) 9, (c) 10, (d) 11, (e) 12, (f) 13, (g) 14, (h) 15, (i) 16 and (j) 17 have been (i) charged with and (ii) convicted of under-age drinking in each sheriff court area in each of the last five years.

Cathy Jamieson: Statistics on persons charged by the police are not available centrally. Children aged under 16 are generally referred to the children’s hearings system for all but the most serious offences. With very few exceptions, any prosecutions for under-age drinking take place in the district courts which are organised on a local authority area basis. Information on the number of children aged under 18 who were proceeded against in Scottish courts for under-age drinking was given in reply to S2W-27288 answered on 8 August 2006. Figures on the number of persons where the charge was proved are given in the following tables.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website the search facility for which can be at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

  Persons Aged 16 and Under1 with a Charge Proved for Under-Age Drinking2,3, by Local Authority Area4, 2000-01 to 2004-05

  

 Local Authority Area
 2000-01
 2001-02
 2002-03
 2003-04
 2004-05


 Aberdeen City
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 Aberdeenshire 
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 Angus 
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 Argyll and Bute 
 -
 -
 -
 -
 1


 Clackmannanshire 
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 Dumfries and Galloway
 -
 -
 1
 -
 -


 Dundee City 
 2
 1
 1
 2
 2


 East Ayrshire 
 1
 1
 2
 4
 3


 East Dunbartonshire
 -
 -
 1
 5
 2


 East Lothian
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 East Renfrewshire 
 -
 -
 -
 1
 -


 Edinburgh, City of
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 Eilean Siar
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 Falkirk 
 -
 -
 1
 1
 2


 Fife 
 -
 -
 1
 -
 -


 Glasgow City 
 5
 7
 9
 5
 9


 Highland 
 -
 1
 -
 1
 -


 Inverclyde 
 1
 -
 1
 1
 -


 Midlothian 
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 Moray
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 North Ayrshire 
 -
 -
 1
 1
 4


 North Lanarkshire 
 4
 6
 5
 4
 19


 Orkney
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 Perth and Kinross 
 -
 -
 -
 1
 -


 Renfrewshire 
 -
 2
 -
 -
 -


 Scottish Borders 
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 Shetland Islands
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 South Ayrshire 
 -
 -
 5
 1
 1


 South Lanarkshire 
 3
 7
 2
 4
 7


 Stirling 
 -
 -
 1
 -
 -


 West Dunbartonshire
 -
 1
 -
 1
 1


 West Lothian 
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 Scotland
 16
 26
 31
 32
 51



  Note:

  1. All aged 16 apart from two 15-year-olds (one proceeded against in 2003-04 in Dundee City, and one proceeded against in 2004-05 in East Ayrshire).

  2. Where main offence.

  3. Includes persons aged under 18 proceeded against for buying excisable liquor or consuming in a bar, or for contraventions of bye-laws prohibiting the consumption of alcohol in designated places.

  4. Incorporates an approximate mapping of sheriff courts into local authority areas. Some sheriff courts will deal with cases from more than one local authority area. Some local authority areas, including East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Midlothian and North Ayrshire, do not contain a sheriff court.

  Persons Aged 17 Proceeded Against for Under-Age Drinking1,2, by Local Authority Area3 2000-01 to 2004-05

  

 Local Authority Area
 2000-01
 2001-02
 2002-03
 2003-04
 2004-05


 Aberdeen City
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 Aberdeenshire 
 -
 -
 -
 1
 -


 Angus 
 -
 2
 -
 1
 1


 Argyll and Bute 
 3
 4
 2
 2
 4


 Clackmannanshire 
 -
 -
 -
 -
 3


 Dumfries and Galloway
 1
 -
 -
 -
 1


 Dundee City 
 3
 8
 7
 3
 1


 East Ayrshire 
 4
 2
 4
 12
 12


 East Dunbartonshire
 3
 3
 4
 3
 5


 East Lothian
 
 
 
 
 


 East Renfrewshire 
 -
 2
 -
 2
 3


 Edinburgh, City of
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 Eilean Siar
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 Falkirk 
 1
 1
 2
 2
 2


 Fife 
 1
 1
 -
 5
 4


 Glasgow City 
 12
 43
 24
 22
 23


 Highland 
 -
 -
 6
 1
 1


 Inverclyde 
 2
 1
 4
 1
 1


 Midlothian 
 -
 -
 2
 -
 -


 Moray
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 North Ayrshire 
 2
 2
 1
 5
 5


 North Lanarkshire 
 14
 10
 21
 26
 50


 Orkney
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 Perth and Kinross 
 1
 -
 1
 1
 -


 Renfrewshire 
 2
 -
 3
 -
 2


 Scottish Borders 
 -
 -
 -
 -
 1


 Shetland Islands
 -
 -
 -
 -
 -


 South Ayrshire 
 -
 -
 9
 16
 1


 South Lanarkshire 
 14
 29
 14
 13
 13


 Stirling 
 -
 -
 2
 -
 5


 West Dunbartonshire
 1
 3
 2
 5
 2


 West Lothian 
 -
 1
 1
 3
 2


 Scotland
 64
 112
 109
 124
 142



  Note:

  1. Where main offence.

  2. Includes persons aged under 18 proceeded against for buying excisable liquor or consuming in a bar, or for contraventions of bye-laws prohibiting the consumption of alcohol in designated places.

  3. Incorporates an approximate mapping of sheriff courts into local authority areas. Some sheriff courts will deal with cases from more than one local authority area. Some local authority areas, including East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Midlothian and North Ayrshire, do not contain a sheriff court.

Legal Aid

Mr Charlie Gordon (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider lodging an amendment to the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Bill to make provision for remedying endowment mis-selling by solicitors.

Hugh Henry: The Scotland Act reserves financial services to the UK Government. Provision already exists to remedy this problem. Since December 2001 solicitors providing investment advice have been regulated by the Financial Services Authority under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Issues of retrospective legislation on problems arising before 1 December 2001 are a matter for Westminster, although such legislation is generally viewed as undesirable.

  It would be outside the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament for the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Bill to seek to make such provision.

Marine Environment

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether a harbour authority can consent to a programme of ship-to-ship oil transfers without amending its byelaws to take account of such transfer operations.

Tavish Scott: It is a matter for a harbour authority to determine whether its byelaws are adequate to meet the needs of its existing and planned operational activities. If amendments or additions to its byelaws are required a harbour authority will apply to the Scottish Executive seeking the necessary powers.

Ports and Harbours

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what role it plays in the setting of byelaws by harbour authorities.

Tavish Scott: It is for individual harbour authorities to decide what byelaws are required to meet local circumstances and operational needs. In considering applications for harbour byelaws, the Scottish Executive will ensure that what is proposed is compliant with the relevant legislation and that any objections are considered as part of the decision making process.

Rail Network

Ms Maureen Watt (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to extend rail links into the Formartine and Buchan areas to the north of Aberdeen.

Tavish Scott: There are no current plans to extend rail links into the Formartine and Buchan area.

Rail Network

Ms Maureen Watt (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to extend rail links into the Deeside area to the west of Aberdeen.

Tavish Scott: We currently have no plans to extend rail links into the Deeside area. However, we are committed to delivering a more accessible transport network in Scotland and we are willing to consider proposals for rail enhancements and improvements which demonstrate viability and local support. Local authorities and Regional Transport Partnerships are best placed to assess their local transport needs in conjunction with rail industry partners, and proposals of this nature are normally developed by such bodies before being submitted to the Scottish Executive.

  The Regional Transport Partnership for this area is NESTRANS. They are currently developing a transport strategy for the area due for completion in March 2007.

Scottish Executive Expenditure

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which IT projects it has initiated and started without an estimate of costs having been established in advance.

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to S2W-15561 by Cathy Jamieson on 22 April 2005, which IT projects, other than the criminal history system replacement project, have been initiated and started without a separate budget having been defined.

Mr Tom McCabe: All internal IT projects that require funding are subject to approval by the Executive’s Information Systems Steering Group (SEISSG), or by the ICT Senior Managers to whom authority to approve funding for smaller projects is delegated. All internal IT projects are managed in accordance with Prince 2 Project Management methodology, except where the project is too small in scale to merit this. Prince 2 requires estimated costs and funding sources to be identified prior to formal Project Initiation. No ICT projects currently underway within the Executive that are subject to SEISSG approval processes have progressed beyond scoping stage without a cost estimate and a committed source of funding.

  Business areas within the Scottish Executive may be involved in the funding or oversight of IT projects or Programmes external to the Executive itself. Best practice guidance advises that projects should be managed in accordance with approved Project Management approaches, and incorporate advice that costs and funding sources should be identified prior to Project Initiation. Larger projects – generally those with budgets of over £5 million – and that are categorised as high risk, are subject to the Gateway Review process. Projects requiring levels of funding that cannot be met from business areas’ delegated staffing and administration budgets would be required to make a case for funding from an appropriate source, usually the relevant Programme Budget.

  No Executive sponsored ICT projects that are currently underway – other than the criminal history system replacement project – have been initiated and started without a separate budget having been defined.

Sheltered Housing

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the traditional concept of sheltered housing with warden services, as a means to maintain independent living for disabled and elderly target groups, remains valid.

Malcolm Chisholm: For those disabled and elderly people who find they are unable to remain in their family home, sheltered housing is a popular choice that helps them to live as independently as possible.

  However, it is generally accepted that traditional forms of sheltered housing are changing, influenced by developments in home support services, such as telecare, by the impact of working time legislation on warden services, and by other factors.

  In response to these influences many service providers are choosing to redesign service delivery methods, including providing a range of service delivery options: full-time or part-time on-site wardens, on-call warden support, improved alarm and telecare systems, or a mix of these options.

  Against that background the Scottish Executive and Communities Scotland are looking at a range of issues relating to sheltered housing, as part of the review of older people’s housing referred to in my answer to question S2W-27618 on 28 August 2006. This work will be completed by February 2007 and will inform future policy choices for housing for elderly and disabled people.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website the search facility for which can be at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Speech and Language Therapy

Mr Kenneth Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to improve speech and language therapy services across Scotland.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive has provided targeted funding of £42.5 million to local authorities over four years and of £6 million to NHS boards over two years to help them to implement the Education (Additional Support and Learning)(Scotland) Act 2004.

  It is for NHS boards and local authorities to agree local priorities, such as service development and the provision of speech and language therapy services for children and young people.